Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/95

 Martin Luther and his Revolt against the Church 57 It is, furthermore, not necessary that the persons who place their contributions in the chest for the dead should be contrite in heart and have orally confessed, since this grace is based simply on the state of grace in which the dead departed, and on the contribution of the living, as is evident from the text of the bull. Moreover preachers shall exert themselves to give this grace the widest publicity, since through the same, help will surely come to departed souls, and the construction of the church of St. Peter will be abun- dantly promoted at the same time. . . . II. Luther's Ninety-five Theses concerning Indulgences (15 17) Luther did not intend his theses to be a complete and Purpose of final declaration of his beliefs in regard to salvation. He ^ u 2 er1 ?. ° drafting his had been deeply disturbed by the talk that he heard theses, about indulgences, the importance of which appeared to him to be grossly overrated. The loud praise of them he thought certain to blind the great body of Christians to more fundamental matters. So with the hope of bringing an ill-understood question to the attention of university men, he hastily drafted in Latin certain prop- ositions involving the chief points ; these he posted up, as was the custom, where they might catch the eye of those interested. He was himself by no means certain of his conclu- sions, for he said later of the theses : " There is much in them concerning which I am doubtful ; much else that I do not understand ; other things of which I am not per- suaded, and nothing that I stubbornly adhere to ; for I submit everything to Holy Church and her judgment." In a letter to Leo X, written six months after the post- ing of the theses, he expresses his surprise and regret